Super Saders
eventually prevailed in a hard-fought final, winning 20-12. Robbie Deans left on a high note.
Crusaders bury losing drought
Since the 2008 win, ardent Crusaders fans had grown tired of losing. Todd Blackadder had some of the best players with him, but he failed to deliver.
Former Crusader, Scott Robertson, who is known in rugby circles as ‘The Razor’ was appointed head coach in 2017.
He knew the massive job he had and he set the course of the Crusaders ship back to winning ways.
‘The Razor’ was part of the Crusaders winning team from 1998-2000, 2002 and 2006. In 2017, he weaved his magic.
The 2017 Super Rugby final was played between the Lions and the Crusaders.
The match, held at Ellis Park in Johannesburg, was the 22nd final in the Super Rugby competition’s history, and attracted a record crowd attendance of 62,000.
The Crusaders won the final, defeating the Lions by eight points, and stretched their record number of Super Rugby title wins to eight.
A strong Crusaders defence, several errors committed by the Lions and a red card were the losers’ downfall in the highly anticipated Super Rugby final held on South African soil for the first time since 2010.
Both finalists had won their respective conferences in the regular season.
The Lions, as the top-placed team in the season standings, played their matches in the finals series at home in Johannesburg.
They beat fellow South African side the Sharks in a closely matched quarterfinal, before defeating the previous year’s champion, the Hurricanes, in their semifinal clash.
The Crusaders comfortably beat local rivals the Highlanders and Chiefs in their respective quarter and semifinal playoffs in Christchurch before travelling to Johannesburg. They returned, heads high with the trophy.
Crusaders upset Blues at Eden Park
The Crusaders strangled the Blues 21-7 with a ruthless display of power rugby to win an 11th Super Rugby title in an all-NZ final at a rain-soaked Eden Park last Saturday.
Scrum-half Bryn Hall and winger Sevu Reece scored tries either side of half-time, while Richie Mo’unga ran the game with a brilliant display at out-half and contributed 11 points from the boot.
The Blues, roared on by a big home crowd, came into the match with 15 straight wins, but were simply unable to get on the front foot and unleash their talented backs until it was too late.
Scrumhalf Finlay Christie gave them a sniff of hope with an opportunist try in the 59th minute, but a defensive mix-up gifted Reece a score four minutes from time to put the result beyond doubt.
The words spoken by Blues star fly-half, Beauden Barrett, summed up the Blues nightmare, “tonight wasn’t our night. We really weren’t good enough. Really disappointing, we had a good season, we wanted to come here and do a job here tonight. It’s a tough one to swallow”.
As I conclude, I congratulate the Crusaders fans and I thank them for having faith in their dynamic team! is a regular contributor to this newspaper. The views expressed are his and not of this newspaper.